The
hour-long program is based on Reiss' best-selling children's book
of the same name. The story centers on cranky deli owner Murray
Kleiner, who is forced to fill in for Santa one Christmas and does a
weirdly wonderful job.

" 'Murray'
is the perfect project to get audiences into the holiday spirit, and
Mike's impressive comedic background makes him a great choice to
put all the pieces together," said NBC Entertainment President
Jennifer Salke.

Walter
Murphy, who was recently Oscar-nominated for his work on the feature
film "Ted," will compose the music. He has won an Emmy for
"Family Guy" and was nominated on three other occasions.

Reiss
is a former writer and executive producer on "The Simpsons" and
was the creator of "The Critic." Other writing credits include
"Not Necessarily the News," "The Tonight Show with Johnny
Carson," "It's Garry Shandling's Show" and "The Simpsons
Movie."